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    Wonder Horse
    Wonder Horse
    Wonder Horse
    Audiobook12 minutes

    Wonder Horse

    Written by Emily Arnold McCully

    Narrated by Kevin R. Free

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Emily Arnold McCully won a Caldecott Medal for her book Mirette on the High Wire. In Wonder Horse, McCully crafts a charming tale based on the true story of Doc Key and his remarkable horse Jim. When Doc Key decides to breed a racehorse, what he gets is a foal with weak legs yet an unusually sharp mind. So Doc decides to teach his horse some new tricks-including reading and writing. ". fun . its humane message is an important one."-Publishers Weekly
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 12, 2013
    ISBN9781470356385
    Wonder Horse
    Author

    Emily Arnold McCully

    I was born in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1939, but grew up in Garden City, New York. My father was a writer/producer of network radio shows, and my mother had been an actress and singer. Noticing that I was trying to draw people and objects, my mother once said to me, "Why don't you practice that and get it right?" She saw a talent to be developed so that I could support myself when I grew up. As a child, I doodled and sketched and created my own stories, binding them into books. As class artist in school, I designed posters, backdrops, and programs for concerts and plays. I often visited the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and sketched people sitting on benches in Union Square. The city fueled my ambitions for an active life in the arts, theater, and publishing. I attended Pembroke College (now part of Brown University), majoring in art history and acting in plays. I also collaborated on an award-winning musical. For years, people stood around me as I drew, marveling that I could reproduce someone or something. If art was a performance, I wanted to try out other roles. After graduation, I worked as a mat cutter in an advertising agency and earned an M.A. in art history at Columbia University. Realizing I had no future in the advertising agency, I put together a portfolio of drawings and took it around to art directors. Gradually, jobs trickled in, mostly for book covers. Finally, an editor at Harper & Row Junior Books spotted a poster I had done that featured children. I received my first book illustration assignment, which led to another, and so on. Meanwhile, I wrote fiction and published a short story that was selected for the O. Henry Collection. It was followed by two novels. I was able to try acting again when the chance arose to audition for a friend's play. It opened in Albany and moved to Off Broadway in New York. It was a wonderful experience, but I knew I had to go back to books. I have now written or illustrated more than two hundred books for children. My advice for aspiring artists and writers is this: You can't aim to please other people. Do what matters most to you, then hope readers respond. I believe that books, rather than be palliative or merely instructive, should stir the imagination. I share Isaac Bashevis Singer's belief that children's books are the last refuge of storytelling. Emily Arnold McCully divides her time between New York City and upstate New York. She has won many awards for her children's books, including the Caldecott Medal for Mirette on the High Wire.

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    Reviews for Wonder Horse

    4/5

    43 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This book follows a horse, Jim Key, who was considered the smartest horse in the world. His owner, Doc Key uses kindness and patience to teach this horse to recognize primary colors, count and do tricks. Doc took him across the country to show people that with some patience and love, an animal that at first showed no promise could learn and thrive.
    • 2/5
      Wonder Horse is the story of Jim Key, a horse trained by freed slave/veterinarian Bill “Doc” Key. The art is very folkloric in style as it is a historical book, though I was a little unsure about some of the historical accuracy of the book. But I suppose it doesn’t matter too much in a children’s picture book; the main message of the story is that people should be kind to animals, which I definitely agree with. The book would be a good one to read to students if they were doing a unit on Tennessee history, African-American history, or animals. While the book is meant for younger children, Jim Key would be an interesting horse for older students to study because of the skepticism surrounding his “training.”
    • 5/5
      In this true story we read all about a man who takes a horse with very little hope, but a great deal of determination and transforms him into the smartest horse. This book is engaging and educational for all readers. It addresses discrimination and adversity. The book also teaches readers to persevere through tough times and in the end everything will be fine. This is a great book for all ages with fantastic illustrations, interesting facts, and a great message for all readers. Wonder Horse would be a great book for a lesson, as all students love animals, and there are plenty of ways to access the book from different perspectives.
    • 4/5
      This was a great story. I found the author's note to be the most interesting part, where McCully revealed even more about Jim Key. The story itself was an easy read and the illustrations were a gorgeous collection of watercolors. This could and should be read to an elementary school class. Jim Key's story is not widely known, or rather it is widely forgotten today, so reading about a horse that could read, write, and count is truly a joy.
    • 4/5
      Author/illustrator Emily Arnold McCully, who won a Caldecott Medal in 1993 for Mirette on the High Wire, tends to seek out unusual true stories for her picture-book biographies - she retold the tale of Irish woman pirate Gráinne Ní Mháille, in The Pirate Queen, and of inventor Margaret E. Knight in Marvelous Mattie - and Wonder Horse is no exception! The story of former slave Bill Key, who became a veterinarian and animal trainer, after being emancipated, and his incredible horse Jim, whom he taught to read, recognize colors, and count, it is both informative and entertaining. A "wonder horse" who toured the country in the late 19th century, Jim was a sensation, and soon attracted his share of naysayers, who claimed that he (and through him, Bill) was a fraud. This doubt prevented Bill and Jim from pairing up with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in a campaign to promote respect for, and kindness toward, animals. Until a team of Harvard professors agreed to examine Jim, that is...Although titled the "Wonder Horse," this book is as much Bill's story, as Jim's, and I found both quite interesting. I understand that the consensus now is that Jim probably wasn't reading, so much as picking up on subtle (and unconscious?) cues from his interrogators, but the tale still highlights the immense intelligence of our equine friends, and their capability for learning, when treated with the respect and kindness they deserve. Just as Jim was an incredible horse, however, Bill was an extraordinary man, and the story of his transformation after being freed - part of the respect he deserved, as a human being - was really quite inspirational. I thought it was so interesting that he used some of his personal fortune - made through sales of his horse liniment - to pay off his former owner's mortgage, as this hints at the complexity of interracial relations (was there fondness there? some strange sense of obligation?), even under the institution of slavery, and during the post-war establishment of the Jim Crow system.This really is an excellent book, one that will engross young readers in its story, and have them rooting for Bill and Jim Key, while also gently educating them about a number of un-gentle realities, from the institution of slavery in American history, to the early campaigns to counter animal cruelty. Highly recommended to all young horse lovers, and to those interested in issues of animal intelligence!
    • 5/5
      Great picture book story about Beautiful Jim Key.